A novel algorithm for exotic particle reconstruction using detector timing
The Standard Model of particle physics has been verified by many experiments yet leaves some questions unanswered. Many theories for physics beyond the Standard Model predict long lived neutral particles. The high energy proton-proton collisions supplied by the Large Hadron Collider provide fresh op...
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University of Bristol
2015
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Online Access: | http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.685553 |
Summary: | The Standard Model of particle physics has been verified by many experiments yet leaves some questions unanswered. Many theories for physics beyond the Standard Model predict long lived neutral particles. The high energy proton-proton collisions supplied by the Large Hadron Collider provide fresh opportunities to search for new particles using the Compact Muon Solenoid particle detector. A new algorithm has been developed that uses the timing of energy deposits in the detector's electromagnetic calorimeter to accurately reconstruct long lived neutral particles decaying within the tracker volume into an electron and a positron. From simulations the algorithm can reconstruct a long lived particle's decay length with a correlation coefficient of up to +0.88 to the true decay length. Using data from proton-proton collisions recorded by the CMS detector at √s = 8 TeV, corresponding to 19.8 fb-1 of integrated luminosity, a preliminary search for new physics was conducted. This tool is now available to future particle searches, significantly extending the search space provided by more traditional techniques. |
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